Subsea guideline anchoring method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for locating and anchoring bottom-tosurface guidelines of a subsea guidance and alignment system to be utilized in conjunction with servicing or drilling subaqueous wells by lowering a pair of self-anchoring ends of unanchored guidelines on a spacer frame which is guided to the subaqueous bottom on a pair of previously anchored guidelines. The free guidelines are anchored upon contact of the self-anchoring ends with predetermined anchorage locations on the subaqueous bottom. The operation may be repeated to anchor other guidelines at other anchorage locations on the subaqueous bottom by utilizing the initially free and subsequently anchored guidelines as guides for lowering the space frame carrying the self-anchoring ends of other free guidelines.

United States Patent 3,302,709 2/1967 Postlewaite 3,503,442 3/1970Doddetal.

ABSTRACT: A method and an apparatus for locating and anchoringbottom-to-surface guidelines of a subsea guidance and alignment systemto be utilized in conjunction with servicing or drilling subaqueouswells by lowering a pair of self anchoring ends of unanchored guidelineson a spacer frame which is guided to the subaqueous bottom on a pair ofpreviously anchored guidelines. The free guidelines are anchored uponcontact of the self-anchoring ends with predetermined anchoragelocations on the subaqueous bottom. The operation may be repeated toanchor other guidelines at other anchorage locations on the subaqueousbottom by utilizing the initially free and subsequently anchoredguidelines as guides for lowering the space frame carrying theself-anchoring ends of other free guidelines.

PATENTED SEP 7 I97! SHEET 1 OF 4 PATENIEDSEP new 3.603386 SHEET 2 BF 4SUBSEA GUIDELINE ANCHORING METHOD AND APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to subaqueous fluid mineral producingwells.

In drilling or servicing subaqueous wells, it is necessary to providemeans for locating drilling equipment and wellhead servicing equipmentat precise locations on the subaqueous bottom. Conventionally, thisequipment is guided to the precise locations by guidelines forming partof a guidance and alignment system (G&A system) extending from thesurface to the subaqueous bottom. The anchoring of the guidelines at theprecise locations has been achieved in various ways.

One way has involved the lowering of a base of operations which carriesthe guidelines to the subaqueous bottom before any drilling isconducted. In instances where a plurality of wells have been drilled ona single subaqueous site, a base of operations carrying the guidelineshas been lowered for each well. After the well has been drilled, awellhead is established at each well and the guidelines are withdrawn.While the above-described way of anchoring guidelines is somewhatsatisfactory for the drilling of subaqueous wells, there are problems inservicing these wells after the guidelines have been withdrawn.

The problems arise out of the necessity to rely upon divers or personneloperating manipulators from a submersible unit in order to reanchor theguidelines. For example, divers cannot be utilized to reanchor theguidelines at subaqueous well locations of considerable depth or inwater having a low temperature. Thus, divers may not be utilized atvarious deep water, offshore well locations where the temperature of thewater may be as low as 35 F. nor can divers be utilized in more shallowareas where the water is cold because of the prevailing weatherconditions. Furthermore, there are various temporary conditions whichmay preclude the use of divers such as turbidity, current and surfaceconditions of the water. Although these temporary conditions will pass,rather long and extremely costly delays will be encountered awaitingmore favorable conditions which will allow the divers to enter thewater. Even when the divers finally do enter the water, their very slowoperational capability which bectiirneseven slower with increased depthof the water will resultr in further costly delays. In some cases, thecost of the delays arising both out of the inability of the divers toenter the water and the slow speed at which the divers are capable ofworking once entering the water may render the cost of servicing thewells prohibitive when the combined costs of the divers on an hourlybasis and the surface rig on an hourly basis are considered.

Although a submersible unit may be utilized in spite of deep water andlow temperature conditions which would preclude the use of a diver, theytoo have their limitations with respect to their manipulatorcapabilities and their ability to operate under certain temporaryturbidity, current, and surface conditions. As with divers, thesetemporary conditions will cause delay in anchoring the guidelines on thesubaqueous bottom and thus a high cost in waiting time or down time forthe surface rig. Furthennore, a submersible unit is at least asexpensive as divers on a per-hour basis of operation and the cost oftransporting these submersible units to the well site is very high.

Besides the expense associated with the use of divers and/or submersibleunits for anchoring guidelines to a plurality of bases of operation forservicing purposes alone, there is also considerable expense involved inrelocating a surface rig so that each of the plurality of bases ofoperations may be lowered to its own separate location initially beforedrilling commences. Furthermore, there are great difficulties inlowering these bases of operations in the proper spatial relationship,one to the other, so that a production satellite may be utilized inconjunction with a plurality of the subaqueous wells.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide ameans and method for anchoring subsea guidelines which may be utilizedunder substantially all conditions.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a means and method foranchoring the subsea guidelines which minimizes the use of divers andsubmersible units. 7

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means and methodfor anchoring subsea guidelines adjacent a plurality of subaqueous wellshaving predetermined spatial relationships therebetween.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a means andmethod for anchoring subsea guidelines which will minimize the waitingor downtime of surface rigs.

These and other objects may be accomplished by lowering at least onefree guideline from the surface to the subaqueous bottom on a spacermeans which is guided by a plurality of previously anchored guidelinesfrom the surface to the subaqueous bottom and anchoring the freeguidelines without utilizing submerged personnel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of theinvention in use in an offshore drilling operation;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the invention in use in servicing twoparticular subaqueous well locations of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of FIG. 2;

lFIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along section lines 4--4 of FIG.2;

FIG. 5 is a partial cutaway view of anchoring and anchorage means; and

FIGS. 6a-6d are side elevational views of the guideline anchoring,testing and withdrawal operations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT By referring first to FIG. 1,there will be seen an offshore drilling or servicing unit in the form ofa drilling vessel 10, similar to that shown in US. Pat. No. Re.26,290,floating on the surface of the water 12 above a subaqueous base ofoperations 14 at the subaqueous bottom 16. The base of operations 14 maybe of the guide base or template type for establishing a plurality ofseries-arranged subaqueous well locations. For illustrative purposes,four such well locations A-D have been shown.

Each of the well locations includes a wellhole 18 which, for purposes ofclarification, have been designated as well holes ISA-18D. If the uniton the surface of the water 12 is a drilling vessel, the well holes 18will be position guides for receiving a drill string as shown. If theunit floating on the water 12 is a servicing unit, the well holes 18will be capped with submerged wellheads, not shown.

In addition to the well holes 18, each of the well locations A-D has agroup of anchorage means associated therewith in the base of operations14. The groups include a plurality of guideline anchorage means 20 whichare associated with a single well location and a plurality of guidelineanchorage means 22 which are located between each two well locations.Again, for purposes of clarity, guideline anchorage means 20 have beendesignated with one of the letters A-D indicating the adjacent welllocation and the plurality of guideline anchorage means 22 have beendesignated with two of the letters A-D indicating the nearest welllocations.

More particularly, it will be seen that the group of guideline anchoragemeans associated with the: well location A include a pair of guidelineanchorage means 20A and the group of anchorage meansat the next welllocation B includes another pair of anchorage means 208. Anchorage means22AB and 228A are located between the well locations A and B. Thepattern of anchorage means 20 and 22 is then repeated at well locationsC and I).

By utilizing a spacer means in the form of a spacer frame 24 and apreviously anchored (either [lowered with the base of operations oranchored by submerged personnel) plurality of guidelines in the form ofa pair of guidelines 26 having anchoring means anchored at the anchoragemeans 20A, a plurality of guidelines 28 having anchoring means at thefree ends thereof may be anchored at anchorage means 22A and 223. Thismay be accomplished by lowering the spacer frame 24 and the free ends ofthe guidelines 28 along the guidelines 26 as shown with the spacer frame24 and the guidelines 26 serving to properly index the guidelines 28with respect to the anchorage means 22AB and 228A.

The lowering of the spacer frame 24 may be accomplished by utilizing arunning means in the form of a drill string 30 or, in the alternative, acable which is attached to the spacer frame 24 at the center of gravitythereof. By utilizing the center of gravity as the point of attachmentfor the running means, the spacer frame 24 may be maintainedsubstantially parallel to the base of operations 14 to achieve properanchoring of the guidelines 28 at the anchorage means 22AB and 223A. Inaddition to the predetermined spatial relationships among the group ofanchorage means 20A, 22AB, and 2213A which correspond with theguideline-receiving means 32 on the spacer frame 24 and assure theproper indexing and anchorage of the guidelines 28, the anchorage means20A and 22AB also have a predetermined spatial relationship with respectto the wellhole 18A to permit use as a part of a conventional G&A systemsuch as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,867 assigned to the assigneeof this invention. Preferably, the anchorage means 20A and 22AB areequidistant from the wellhole 18A at the apices of an equilateraltriangle for this purpose to permit a drill bit or servicing mechanismto be lowered on the anchored guidelines 26 and one guideline 28 withthe utmost stability. 7

Since it is desirable that the drill string 30 be attached to the spacerframe 24 at the center of gravity thereof but not necessarilyequidistantly spaced from any three of the guidelinereceiving means 32,nonalignment may be provided between the wellhole 18A and the point ofattachment 34 at the center of gravity of the spacer frame 24. The restof the spacer frame 24 may also be of a configuration so as to achievenonalignment with the wellhole 18A to avoid interference with anywellhead extending therefrom. Accordingly, the spacer frame 24 maycomprise a yoke configuration having ends 36 with guideline-receivingmeans 32 for the guidelines 26 and a center portion 38 including thepoint of attachment 34 and guideline-receiving means 32 for theguidelines 28.

Once the drilling or servicing of the well at the well location A iscompleted by utilizing the anchored guidelines 26 and 28 which areanchored at the anchorage means 20A and 22AB, a subsequent plurality ofguidelines may be anchored at the next well location in the series, welllocation B. This may be accomplished by merely reorienting the spacerframe 24, either by flipping (turning the spacer frame over) or rotatingthe spacer frame 24, 180 after the spacer frame 24 has been raised tothe surface and the guidelines 26 and 28 removed from the receivingmeans 32 so that the guideline-receiving means 32 of the spacer frameends 36 overlie and are aligned with the anchorage means 208. The spacerframe 24 may then be lowered to the base of operations 14 to properlyanchor guidelines at the anchorage means 208. After achieving the properanchorage, spacer frame 24 will be raised by raising the drill string 30and servicing or drilling may commence with use of guidelines forguiding the needed equipment to the well.

Before the guidelines, which permit drilling and servicing at thesubsequent well location C in the series, may be anchored, it isnecessary to bridge the gap between the well location B and the welllocation C by anchoring guidelines at the anchorage means 228C and 22CBlocated between well locations B and C. This too is accomplished byflipping or rotating the spacer frame 24 so that the spacer frame 24 islowered along the guidelines anchored at the anchorage means 208carrying unanchored guidelines at guideline-receiving means 32 in thecenter 38 of the spacer frame 24. These subsequently anchored guidelinesmay in turn be utilized to anchor guidelines at the anchorage means 20Cof the well location C. Note that there will be no drilling or servicingby utilizing the guidelines anchored at anchorage means 228C and 22CBsince there is no adjacent well location.

These steps may be repeated until all of the well locations of theseries have been drilled or serviced by utilizing the G&A systemincluding certain of the guidelines anchored by this method. It will beappreciated that only four well locations have been shown in the base ofoperations 14 and that it will oftentimes be desirable to have manymore. For example, it might be desirable to utilize an annular base ofoperations so that the wells will be annularly arranged in a series topermit the use of a production satellite of the carrousel type asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 740,578, filed June 27, [968and assigned to the assignee of this invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the shape of the spacer frame 24 is moreclearly shown as comprising legs 40 of the yoke ends 36 and leg 42 atthe yoke center 38. In the environment of FIGS. 2 and 3, the spacerframe 24 is utilized to anchor guidelines for a servicing G&A systemwith the need to avoid interference with an established wellhead 44 anda production pipe 46. As mentioned previously, this is accomplished inpart by providing a point of attachment 34 which is located at thecenter of gravity of the spacer frame 24 but in nonalignment with thewellhead 44. The point of attachment 34 is located at the intersectionof truss members 48. The avoidance of interference is also achieved inpart by having the legs 40 of the yoke configuration spaced outwardlyfrom the wellhead 44. In order to strengthen the legs 40 in their spreadposition, truss members 50 are provided.

In order to avoid interference between the pipe 46 and the end legs 40of the yoke configuration, the anchorage means 20A as well as theanchorage means 22AB and 228A, not shown in FIG. 3, comprise pedestals52 extending up above the pipe 46 which passes along the upper surfaceof the base of operations 14. Thus, even when the spacer frame 24 isresting upon the pedestals 52 and the anchoring means 54 of theguidelines 26 are latched within the pedestals 52, interference betweenthe spacer frame 24 and the pipe 46 is avoided. The avoidance ofinterference is also achieved at well location B where the position ofthe spacer frame 24 is shown in phantom and the pedestals 52 are shownin full.

The anchoring of the guidelines 26 and 28 at the base of operations 14may be understood by reference to FIG. 4 wherein the anchoring means 54of the guidelines 28 is shown as latched within the pedestals S2. Theanchoring means 54 comprises a guide pin 55 connected to the cable 28 bya suitable coupling means 56 and is adapted to be received by theguideline-receiving means 32 in the spacer frame 24 and the anchoragemeans 228A in the form of the pedestals 52 having a receptacle 60. i

In order to accomplish a self or automatic latching of the anchoringmeans 54 with the anchorage means 22BA, sheara ble and spring-loadedanchoring latching elements 64 are located on the lower portion of thepin 55. As the pin enters the receptacle 60, the latching element 64will be retracted compressing the springs until the latching elements 64reach an annular recess 66 in the wall of the receptacle 60. Uponreaching the annular recess 66, the latching elements will snapoutwardly into the recess 66 to provide anchoring of the guideline 28.

In order to prevent the spacer frame 24 from slippingdown over the pinas the guidelines 28 in the spacer frame 24 are lowered to thesubaqueous bottom 16, a flange 68 extends outwardly from the pin and alower surface 70 of the spacer frame 24 bears thereupon. The flange 68also serves as astop for the pin thereby avoiding premature shearing ofthe.

latching elements 64 which might occur if the latching elements 64 werejammed beyond the recess 66. Spacer frame latching elements 72 areprovided in combination with an'an- Y nular recess 74 in the spacerframe 24 to prevent the spacer frame 24 from coming out of the aperture58. Without the latching elements 72 and the annular recess 74 holdingthe pin 55 in the aperture 58, the pointed end 76 of the pin 55 wouldnot be maintained in the proper attitude to be able to locate thereceptacle 60. However, by utilizing latching elements 72 which haverounded faces, the spacer frame 24 may be pulled free from the anchoringmeans 54 and raised to the surface to permit the drilling or servicingby the G&A system.

The outer surfaces of the anchoring latching elements 64 which are bothshearable and spring-loaded, as mentioned previously, are shown insomewhat fuller detail in FIG. 5. In order to permit the latchingelements 64 to enter the receptacle 60 the outer surface 78 is arcuatelytapered inwardly from the upper portion to the lower portion and acomplementary recess 80 is provided in the pin which tapers inwardlyfrom the lower portion to the upper portion. Tapered surface 78 will rubalong the wall of the receptacle 60 as the pin is inserted into thepedestals 52 so as to force the latching elements 64 into thecomplementary recess 80 while simultaneously compressing a spring 82which is located between the latching elements 64 and a tapered wall 84of the recess 80. Once the latching elements 64 reach the annular recess66, the latching elements 64 snap outwardly such that latching surfaces86 at the upper portion of the latching elements 64 pass beneath alatching surface 88 of the recess 66. The latching elements 64 are heldin place byretainer plates 90 secured to the pin 55 by screws 92 whichbear upon tabs 94 and the lower portion of the tapered surfaces 78 ofthe latching elements 64.

Since it frequently is necessary to pull up or withdraw guidelinesanchored at one well location in a series to permit uninhibited work atsubsequent well locations in the series, it is necessary to provide ameans for releasing the anchoring means 54 from the anchorage means and22. This may be accomplished by making the latching elements 64shearable so that upon application of an axial force along the pin 55and along the attached guidelines in an upward direction and ofsufficient magnitude, the latching elements 64 will be sheared and thepin may be removed from the receptacle 60. Accordingly, the ear 96defined by the upper portion of the tapered surface 78 and the latchingsurface 86 is made sufficiently strong to withstand the normal stressesof G&A system operations but sufficiently weak to permit shearing by amuch greater force. A typical shear line 97 for the car 96 is shown toindicate the very small amount of the latching elements 64 which willremain within the receptacle 60. The sheared-off latching elements 64may be replaced at the surface with new latching elements 64 by removingand reattaching the plates 90. It will be appreciated that such a smallamount of material will not interfere with the anchoring of guidelinesin the same receptacle 60 at a later point in time. In fact, the amountof material involved is so small as to permit the reuse of thereceptacle 60 many times when subsequently servicing the wells.

Referring now to FIGS. 6a6d, there are disclosed a plurality of stepsutilized in anchoring and releasing guidelines. In FIG. 6a, theanchoring means 54 attached to the guidelines 26 have been previouslylatched and anchored within the pedestals 52 of the anchorage means 20A.The previously anchored guidelines 26 are being utilized as a guide andindex for locating and anchoring guidelines 28 at pedestals 52 of theanchorage means 22AB and 223A. In the position shown, a spacer frame isrunning along the guidelines 26 and guidelinereceiving means 32 in thefrom of guideline-running apertures 58 and the pins 55 of the anchoringmeans connected to the guidelines 28 are about to enter the receptacles60 of the anchorage means 22AB and 22BA.

In FIG. 6b, the spacer frame 24 has been lowered to the top of thepedestals 52 and the pins of the guidelines 28 have been inserted intothe pedestals 52 of the anchorage means 22AB and 223A. In thisparticular view, both the guidelines 26 and the guidelines 28 have beenanchored.

Latching can only occur if the pins are inserted into the pedestals 52up to the flanges 68. In order to test for the proper latching, thespacer frame 24 may be raised a few feet above the pedestals 52. If theguidelines 28 are placed under tension by pulling at the surface and theguidelines 28 remain under tension after the spacer frame 24 has beenraised, this will indicate the proper latching and anchoring of theguidelines 28. If there is no longer any tension on the guidelines 28after the spacer frame is raised, guidelines 28 may be raised to thespacer frame 24 until the lower surface 70 thereof rests on the flanges68. The spacer frame may then be lowered again to the pedestals 52 inanother effort to achieve appropriate latching of the anchoring means 54associated with the guidelines 28. This testing and attempt to anchorthe unanchored guidelines 28 may be repeated until proper anchoring isachieved.

In some instances, it may not be necessary to perform any operationswith the G&A system at the particular well location. In these instances,it will be desirable to immediately withdraw the guidelines 26 as shown:in FIG. 6d as soon as the testing shown in FIG. 60 is completed. Ofcourse, it is imperative that this testing be completed before theguidelines 26 are withdrawn by shearing the latching elements 64 off thepin as shown. The withdrawal of the guidelines 26 as shown in FIG. 6dwithout performing various operations with the G&A system would alwaysbe the case when the guideline being withdrawn is anchored at ananchorage means 22 not adjacent any well location such as anchoragemeans 228C and 22GB.

In the foregoing, a single spacer frame 24 has been described. However,it is appreciated that the particular spacer frame described is by nomeans the only spacer frame which may be utilized in the claimed methodand apparatus. For example, the previously discussed spacer frame 24 hasidentical upper and lower surfaces to permit the spacer frame 24 to beflipped or inverted from one well location to another. However, this isnot necessary since the spacer frame 24 may be rotated between wellpositions rather than flipped between well positions. With regard to theflipping of the spacer frame 24, it should be noted that the center leg42 will be angularly disposed with respect to the end legs 40 ratherthan parallel as shown whenever an annular base of operations 14 isutilized and the spacer frame 24 is flipped from well location to welllocation. The angular disposition of the center leg 42 will permit thespacer frame to mark out a substantially annular path coinciding withthe various well locations in the annular base of operations 14.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that various modifications may be made.The appended claims are intended to cover any such modifications withinthe spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of locating and anchoring bottom-to-surface guidelines foruse as part of a subsea guidance and alignment system in drilling orservicing a selected one of a plurality of subaqueous wells whichcomprises:

lowering at least one free guideline along a predetermined path inreference to previously anchored guidelines;

anchoring a free end of said at least one free guideline at apredetermined position at said :subaqueous bottom upon contacttherewith;

disconnecting said previously anchored guidelines from the bottom aftersaid at least one free guideline has been anchored; and

repeating the above steps for anchoring additional guidelines to thebottom in additional predetermined positions.

2. A method of locating and anchoring bottom-to-surface guidelines foruse as a part of a subaqueous guidance and alignment system insuccessively drilling or servicing a plurality of subaqueous wellsequally serially spaced along a subaqueous bottom by using a previouslyanchored plurality of guidelines at one well location in the series asguides in lowering a plurality of free guidelines from the surface tothe bottom and as an index for anchoring said free guidelines betweenwell locations.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the previously anchored guidelines areremoved from the subaqueous bottom and the anchored, previously freeguidelines are utilized as guides in lowering a subsequent plurality offree guidelines from the surface to the bottom and as an index foranchoring said subsequent free guidelines at a subsequent subaqueouswell location in the series.

4. A method of locating and anchoring bottom-to-surface guidelines of asubaqueous guidance and alignment system for offshore well productionoperations comprising the steps of:

establishing at least one group of anchorage means at a base ofoperations on the subaqueous bottom having predetermined spatialrelationship among the individual anchorage means of said group;

anchoring at least one guideline to particular anchorage means of saidgroup; attaching a free end of at least one other guideline to a spacermeans; I

lowering said spacer means down along said at least one guideline suchthat said free end of said at least one other guideline and said atleast one guideline has a spatial relationship thereamong substantiallyidentical to the spatial relationships of said anchorage means of saidgroup;

anchoring said at least one other guideline by securing said free end toanother of said anchorage means of said raising said spacer means to thesurface;

reorienting said spacer frame with respect to said at least one otherguideline;

attaching a free end of at least one further guideline to said spacermeans;

lowering said spacer means down along said at least one other guidelinesuch that said free end of said at least one further guideline and saidat least one other guideline have a spatial relationship thereamongidentical to the spatial relationships between said another of saidanchorage means and particular anchorage means of another group; and

anchoring said at least one further guideline by securing said free endto said particular anchorage means of said other group.

5. The method of claim 4 including the step of withdrawing said at leastone guideline before anchoring said at least one further guideline.

6. The method of claim 4 including the step of withdrawing said at leastone guideline before raising said spacer means to the surface.

7. The method of claim 4 including the steps of:

raising said spacer means off said subaqueous bottom; and

testing the anchorage of said at least one other guideline by applyingtension thereto before withdrawing said at least one guideline.

8. A method of sequentially anchoring groups of guidelines at aplurality of serially arranged subaqueous well locations, one groupbeing associated with each well by utilizing a plurality of anchoredguidelines as guides for a spacer means while lowering a next pluralityof guidelines thereon to the subaqueous bottom and anchoring the nextplurality of guidelines at a predetermined location, utilizing the nextplu rality of guidelines as guides for a spacer means while lowering asubsequent plurality of guidelines to the subaqueous bottom andanchoring the subsequent plurality of guidelines at a predeterminedlocation, and continuing the sequential anchoring in the foregoingmanner until all of the groups of guidelines have been anchored.

9. Apparatus for locating and anchoring bottom-to-surface guidelines ofa subaqueous guidance and alignment system comprising:

a base adapted to be located at a subaqueous bottom includ' ing a welllocation means and anchorage means near said well location means andhaving predetermined spatial relationships thereamong, each of saidanchorage means comprising receptacles having recesses therein; aplurality of guidelines havlng self-anchoring means adapted toautomatically anchor at said anchorage means upon engagement therewith,each of said self-anchoring means comprising a pin having aspring-loaded anchorlatching element thereon which is shearable fromsaid pin, said anchor-latching element being adapted to engage saidrecess on said anchorage means upon contact a spacer frame including aplurality of guideline-receiving means having said predetermined spatialrelationships thereamong, more than one of said receiving means adaptedto be guided along previously anchored guidelines when said spacer frameis lowered along said previously anchored guidelines carrying saidselfanchoring means of at least one other of said plurality ofguidelines at other of said guideline-receiving means; and

means for raising and lowering said spacer frame between the surface andsaid anchorage means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said anchoring means includes aflange extending from said pin for support of said spacer frame.

1 l. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein each said anchoring meansincludes a spacer frame latching element extending from said pin abovesaid flange, and said guideline-receiving means comprises an apertureextending through said frame having a latching recess for receiving saidspacer frame latching element 12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein saidspacer frame comprises a yoke and said guideline-receiving meanscomprise apertures located at the ends and center of said yoke.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein two of said apertures are locatedat said center of said yoke and one of said apertures is located at eachof said ends of said yoke.

1. A method of locating and anchoring bottom-to-surface guidelines foruse as part of a subsea guidance and alignment system in drilling orservicing a selected one of a plurality of subaqueous wells whichcomprises: lowering at least one free guideline along a predeterminedpath in reference to previously anchored guidelines; anchoring a freeend of said at least one free guideline at a predetermined position atsaid subaqueous bottom upon contact therewith; disconnecting saidpreviously anchored guidelines from the bottom after said at least onefree guideline has been anchored; and repeating the above steps foranchoring additional guidelines to the bottom in additionalpredetermined positions.
 2. A method of locating and anchoringbottom-to-surface guidelines for use as a part of a subaqueous guidanceand alignment system in successively drilling or servicing a pluralityof subaqueous wells equally serially spaced along a subaqueous bottom byusing a previously anchored plurality of guidelines at one well locationin the series as guides in lowering a plurality of free guidelines fromthe surface to the bottom and as an index for anchoring said freeguidelines between well locations.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein thepreviously anchored guidelines are removed from the subaqueous bottomand the anchored, previously free guidelines are utilized as guides inlowering a subsequent plurality of free guidelines from the surface tothe bottom and as an index for anchoring said subsequent free guidelinesat a subsequent subaqueous well location in the series.
 4. A method oflocating and anchoring bottom-to-surface guidelines of a subaqueousguidance and alignment system for offshore well production operationscomprising the steps of: establishing at least one group of anchoragemeans at a base of operations on the subaqueous bottom havingpredetermined spatial relationship among the individual anchorage meansof said group; anchoring at least one guideline to particular anchoragemeans of said group; attaching a free end of at least one otherguideline to a spacer means; lowering said spacer means down along saidat least one guideline such that said free end of said at least oneother guideline and said at least one guideline has a spatialrelationship thereamong substantially identical to the spatialrelationships of said anchorage means of said group; anchoring said atleast one other guideline by securing said free end to another of saidanchorage means of said group; raising said spacer means to the surface;reorienting said spacer frame with respect to said at least one otherguideline; attaching a free end of at least one further guideline tosaid spacer means; lowering said spacer means down along said at leastone other guideline such that said free end of said at least one furtherguideline and said at least one other guideline have a spatialrelationship thereamong identical to the spatial relationships betweensaid another of said anchorage means and particular anchorage means ofanother group; and anchoring said at least one further guideline bysecuring said free end to said particular anchorage means of said othergroup.
 5. The method of claim 4 including the step of withdrawing saidat least one guideline before anchoring said at least one furtherguideline.
 6. The method of claim 4 including the step of withdrawingsaid at least one guideline before raising said spacer means to thesurface.
 7. The method of claim 4 including the steps of: raising saidspacer means off said subaqueous bottom; and testing the anchorage ofsaid at least one other guideline by applying tension thereto beforewithdrawing said at least one guideline.
 8. A method of sequentiallyanchoring groups of guidelines at a plurality of serially arrangedsubaqueous well locations, one group being associated with each well byutilizing a plurality of anchored guidelines as guides for a spacermeans while lowering a next plurality of guidelines thereon to thesubaqueous bottom and anchoring the next plurality of guidelines at apredetermined location, utilizing the next plurality of guidelines asguides for a spacer means while lowering a subsequent plurality ofguidelines to the subaqueous bottom and anchoring the subsequentplurality of guidelines at a predetermined location, and continuing thesequential anchoring in the foregoing manner until all of the groups ofguidelines have been anchored.
 9. Apparatus for locating and anchoringbottom-to-surface guidelines of a subaqueous guidance and alignmentsystem comprising: a base adapted to be located at a subaqueous bottomincluding a well location means and anchorage means near said welllocation means and having predetermined spatial relationshipsthereamong, each of said anchorage means comprising receptacles havingrecesses therein; a plurality of guidelines having self-anchoring meansadapted to automatically anchor at said anchorage means upon engagementtherewith, each of said self-anchoring means comprising a pin having aspring-loaded anchor-latching element thereon which is shearable fromsaid pin, said anchor-latching element being adapted to engage saidrecess on said anchorage means upon contact a spacer frame including aplurality of guideline-receiving means having said predetermined spatialrelationships thereamong, more than one of said receiving means adaptedto be guided along previously anchored guidelines when said spacer frameis lowered along said previously anchored guidelines carrying saidself-anchoring means of at least one other of said plurality ofguidelines at other of said guideline-receiving means; and means forraising and lowering said spacer frame between the surface and saidanchorage means.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said anchoringmeans includes a flange extending from said pin for support of saidspacer frame.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein each said anchoringmeans includes a spacer frame latching element extending from said pinabove said flange, and said guideline-receiving means comprises anaperture extending through said frame having a latching recess forreceiving said spacer frame latching element.
 12. The apparatus of claim9 wherein said spacer frame comprises a yoke and saidguideline-receiving means comprise apertures located at the ends andcenter of said yoke.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein two of saidapertures are located at said center of said yoke and one of saidapertures is located at each of said ends of said yoke.